The UAW on Friday expanded its week-old strike against General Motors and Stellantis but said it would spare Ford Motor Co. additional production stoppages after making “real progress” in talks this week.
About 5,600 workers at all 38 GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers in 20 states walked off the job at noon EDT on Friday.
“We will shut down parts distribution until those two companies come to their senses and come to the table with a serious offer,” UAW President Shawn Fain said on a Facebook broadcast Friday morning. “The members who will join the stand-up strike today are living testament to one of the injustices we are fighting against at the Big 3: tiers.”
The locations joining the strike Friday package and ship parts that are used to repair customers’ vehicles, so dealerships could see their service business hampered by the escalation.
The GM sites employ roughly 3,400 workers, including 1,600 near Flint, Mich. The Stellantis sites employ about 2,100 workers.
“This expansion will also take our fight nationwide,” Fain said. “We’ll be everywhere from California to Massachusetts, from Oregon to Florida. And we will keep going, keep organizing and keep expanding the stand-up strike as necessary.”
GM, in a statement released Friday, called the expansion “unnecessary.”
“The decision to strike an additional 18 of our facilities, affecting more than 3,000 team members plus their families and communities, adds validity to the blueprint identified in last night’s leaked texts — that the UAW leadership is manipulating the bargaining process for their own personal agendas.
“We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business, our customers, and our dealers.
“We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic, addressing areas that our team members have said matters most: wage increases and job security while allowing GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
‘Still have serious issues’
Fain said Ford had increased its offers for profit-sharing payouts and job security, though he added that the two sides “still have serious issues to work through.”
“Ford is working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal that rewards our workforce and enables Ford to invest in a vibrant and growing future,” the company said in a statement. “Although we are making progress in some areas, we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues. In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success.”
According to the union, Ford has agreed to give the UAW the right to strike over plant closures, which was one of its original demands. It’s also offering to give workers “income security” for up to two years, with health care, in the event of an indefinite layoff. Those benefits would also apply to temporary workers with more than 90 days of service, the union said.
Ford has also agreed to improve its profit-sharing formula, the union said. The new calculation would have paid workers 13.3 percent more than what they received last year. Ford is also extending profit-sharing to temps with at least 90 days of employment, the UAW said.
The UAW did not say if Ford has offered additional wage gains beyond the 20 percent from previous offers. The automaker had also previously offered to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments and convert workers at two lower-wage plants to the main pay scale, which Fain cited Friday as progress..
Day 8
The strike, now in its eighth day, began Sept. 15, one minute after its previous four-year contracts with the automakers expired. The union originally ordered about 13,000 workers at three assembly plants — one at each company, spread across Michigan, Ohio and Missouri — onto picket lines. Those plants are GM’s Wentzville Assembly in Missouri, Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant near Detroit and Stellantis’ Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio.
GM also this week idled its Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., due to a lack of parts made at Wentzville.
“Our message to the consumer is simple: the way to fix the frustrating customer experience is for the companies to end price gouging,” Fain said. “Invest these record profits into stable jobs and sustainable wages and benefits. It’s that simple.”
Ford’s progress with the UAW comes several days after it reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with Canada’s Unifor union, avoiding a second strike.
